#ElectricSportsCar

Although its future was in doubt based on the company missing many self-imposed deadlines, Detroit Electric has released the final design of its upcoming sports car. 

Toyota’s performance-minded push with cars like the LFA and GT 86 is about to go high-tech, with plans to develop an electric sports car.

Officially, Toyota will tell you that the future is in hybrid powertrains. But unofficially, well, they’ve built an electric sports car, which was revealed at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon.

Based on the chassis of a Toyota Sera (a rare sports car built from 1990-96), the TES-ERA EV shares that car’s gullwing door concept, though the car is altogether more modern looking. While tiny (roughly 10 inches shorter in length than a second generation MR2), it’s certainly not cutesy looking thanks to plenty of angles and a wide stance.

A proper rear-drive machine the TES-ERA EV makes roughly 165 hp and produces 247 lb-ft of torque.  Weighing in at 2,500 lbs it’s not going to be a rocket ship, but should produce some modest smiles.

Built by the Toyota Engineering Society (hence the TES in its name), the car is part of an annual skunkworks project made up of volunteers within the automaker and isn’t even technically an official Toyota concept car.

Created in 1947 to explore organic new ideas and actually move ahead with them, last year’s TES project car was the TES Concept T-Sports, looking at a baby Scion FR-S.

See videos of the TES-ERA EV in action below:

Earlier this week at the Frankfurt Auto Show, Infiniti released teaser sketches of their upcoming Nissan Leaf-based Infiniti electric sedan concept.

With electric versions of the Audi R8 and Mercedes-Benz SLS on the horizon, Toyota is looking for its own electric halo vehicle to bring the fight to the Germans, similar to how the Japanese automaker did with their Lexus LF-A flagship.

With BMW set to launch its revolutionary Megacity electric mini car in the next few years, there’s now word that the new sub-brand could include more models – like an electric sports car. In an interview with AutoCar, BMW’s sales and marketing boss Ian Robertson admitted to as much, commenting that the Megacity brand won’t be limited to, “just one format.”